Desert Sunset
How pretty much the same idea led to a slightly different result 20 years later.
The first sketch
In 2025 I bought two canvasses after I finished ‘Family Portait’ and this basically turned out to be a improved version of something I made roughly 20 years ago.
I started to do some sketches and I first wanted to do something with a bunch of flying orbs in a desert landscape, like a weird sci-fi kind of vibe. But the visualisation of the dunes were already so colourfull and strong that I felt it didn’t need much more…
20 years before
This is something I made roughly 20 years before, but the funny thing is that the principle is roughly the same. Focus on the high contrasts between lights and shadows in a desert landschape. I wanted to make it so abstract that it basically became unrecognisable as a landscape.
Sand?
As you can see here, on the rights side, I struggeled with the piece in front. I spent hours trying to make these ‘wrinkles’ in the sand, but hated the result. It was too dark and the direction didn’t feel ok in combination with the rest of the painting.
Then I figured; I could use actual sand. So I took glue and put actual playing sand, I still had in the shed, and just glued it on there. Then I repainted that whole part and gave it its final colours and the new ‘wrinkles’…
But if your close enough, you can see and feel the sand on the canvas and it does give an interesting contrast with the rest of the work.
On the wall
I still love the warmth of the colours and the composition of this one so it hangs in the living room! Just need to move it according to Rinda, my wife, since it either needs to be directly next to the dinner table, or it should be over the lower cabinet on the right… If only I could find the time to do that…